Svein Tuft

Svein Tuft (born May 9, 1977) is a Canadian former road bicycle racer,[4] who rode professionally between 2005 and 2019 for the Symmetrics, Garmin–Transitions, SpiderTech–C10, Mitchelton–Scott and Rally UHC Cycling teams. Tuft was the winner of the 2006–07 UCI America Tour, and was a thirteen-time champion at the Canadian road cycling championships: twice in the road race, and eleven times in the time trial.

Svein Tuft
Personal information
Full nameSvein Tuft
NicknameSveino
Born (1977-05-09) May 9, 1977
Langley, British Columbia, Canada
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight74 kg (163 lb; 11.7 st)
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeDomestique
Time trialist
Professional teams
2005–2008Symmetrics
2009–2010Garmin–Slipstream
2011SpiderTech–C10
2012–2018GreenEDGE[1][2]
2019Rally UHC Cycling[3]
Major wins
Grand Tours
Tour de France
1 TTT stage (2013)
Giro d'Italia
1 TTT stage (2014)

One-day races and Classics

National Road Race Championships
(2011, 2014)
National Time Trial Championships
(11 times)[N 1]

Other

UCI America Tour (2006–07)

Personal life

He was born in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. His grandfather, Arne Tuft, was an Olympic cross-country skier from Norway.

Tuft dropped out of school at 15 to travel and camp with his dog named Bear. He spent the next several years mountain climbing and going on long bike trips, including a 4,000 mile trip to Alaska as a teenager.[5]

While racing with Symmetrics, Tuft lived in a trailer behind team owner Kevin Cunningham's house near Langley. In the adjacent trailer was Tuft's teammate Christian Meier. The team referred to the two as the trailer park boys.

Racing career

Symmetrics (2005–2008)

Tuft first raced in 1999, at the British Columbia Provincial Championships. Strong results landed him a place on the Broadmark Capital team, followed by short stints on the Mercury and Prime Alliance teams. Tuft's career flourished when he rode for the Canadian Symmetrics team – a prominent team in North American Cycling from 2005–2008. He first captured the Canadian national time trial title in 2004 from his former teammate and three time Canadian Olympian Eric Wohlberg. Wohlberg held the title for eight consecutive years prior to Tuft. In 2007 Tuft conceded the Canadian National Time Trial title to Ryder Hesjedal.

He was selected to compete for Canada at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing China in the Road Race and Time Trial. Svein Tuft was the best finisher for a long time in the time trial, before eventually finishing 7th.

His best result was second place in the 2008 UCI World Championships time trial in Varese Italy during which he overcame a flat tire in the last 5 km.

He featured prominently in a Symmetrics team Comic book written by Marvel Comics Dabel Brothers Productions Editor in chief Matthew Hansen, which is used as a press kit for the team. In the comic book, Tuft is very muscular. Upon seeing himself in the comic, Tuft remarked "We're all a bunch of sissies really."[6]

SpiderTech–C10 (2011)

In 2011 Svein Tuft was supposed to be a part of Team Pegasus Cycling. Unfortunately due to sponsorship issues, the team had to pull out at the last minute.[7] Tuft was recruited as a member of the Canadian Professional Pro-Continental Team, SpiderTech–C10, managed by Steve Bauer. Tuft won both the Canadian National Time Trial and Canadian National Road championships in Burlington, Ontario with SpiderTech in 2011. In August 2011, Tuft announced that he would leave SpiderTech for the Australian team GreenEDGE in 2012.[1]

2012 season

He was praised for his 200-kilometre (120-mile) solo ride in front of the peloton during stage 2 of the 2012 Tirreno–Adriatico. During the race, he reportedly burnt 6500 calories. Mark Cavendish tweeted it as "Ride of the day.. No, make that ride of the millennium, goes to GreenEDGE's Svein Tuft. 200km ALONE controlling the peloton! Respect."

In August 2012, Tuft prevailed on stage 6 of the Eneco Tour, a 17.4 kilometres (10.8 mi) Individual Time Trial. The victory put him in the overall classification leader's jersey.[8] He lost the lead the next day on the seventh and last stage of the Tour, where he had to face the steep climbs of the Belgian "bergs." Tuft was announced as the third overall rider, but he was handed a 20 seconds penalty for taking a bottle of water from his team's car with less than 20 km (12 mi) to cover, which is against the rules. That punishment relegated him to seventh place, one minute behind winner Lars Boom of Rabobank.[9][10]

2013 season

In 2013, Tuft opened his account and took the first victory of the season for Orica–GreenEDGE, by winning the individual time trial in the Tour de San Luis. The 19.2 km (11.9 mi) course was swept by strong winds, according to Tuft.[11] In July, he was the lanterne rouge – final-placed rider overall – of the 100th Tour de France.[12]

2014 season

In 2014, Tuft wore the maglia rosa as leader of the Giro d'Italia since Orica–GreenEDGE won the opening team time trial and he crossed the line first. He stated afterward: "For a guy like me, to wear the maglia rosa is a once in a lifetime experience, and I’m really thankful to my team for that gift. It’s a really special thing."[13]

2015 season

In 2015, Tuft crashed at the Tour de Romandie as he was carrying water bottles to give to his teammates. He was a non-starter for the third stage.[14] It was later revealed after medical examination that he had suffered a minor wrist fracture and a sternum injury, and was therefore pulled out of Orica–GreenEDGE's Giro d'Italia's roster.[15]

Major results
2001
1st Stage 7 Tour de Beauce
2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
2002
3rd Time trial, National Road Championships
2003
2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
2004
National Road Championships
1st Time trial
2nd Road race
2005
1st Time trial, National Road Championships
2nd Overall Tour de Beauce
2006
National Road Championships
1st Time trial
2nd Road race
1st Prologue Vuelta a El Salvador
4th Time trial, Pan American Road Championships
7th Time trial, Commonwealth Games
10th Overall Vuelta a Chihuahua
1st Prologue
2007
1st 2006–07 UCI America Tour
1st Overall Vuelta a Cuba
1st Stage 11a (ITT)
1st U.S. Open Cycling Championships
1st Stage 1 Redlands Bicycle Classic
2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
2nd Overall Tour de Beauce
5th Lancaster Classic
7th Overall Vuelta a El Salvador
2008
Pan American Road and Track Championships
1st Time trial
1st Individual pursuit
1st Madison (with Zachary Bell)
1st Points race
1st Time trial, National Road Championships
1st Overall Tour de Beauce
1st Stage 4a (ITT)
2nd Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
3rd Overall Tour of Missouri
7th Time trial, Olympic Games
2009
1st Time trial, National Road Championships
4th Overall Herald Sun Tour
2010
1st Time trial, National Road Championships
2nd Overall Danmark Rundt
1st Stage 5 (ITT)
5th Overall Eneco Tour
1st Prologue
10th Overall Delta Tour Zeeland
2011
National Road Championships
1st Time trial
1st Road race
1st Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem
3rd Overall Tour de Beauce
1st Stages 4 (ITT) & 6
2012
1st Time trial, National Road Championships
1st Duo Normand (with Luke Durbridge)
1st Stage 1 (TTT) Tirreno–Adriatico
3rd Team time trial, UCI Road World Championships
4th Overall Three Days of De Panne
4th Overall Tour de Beauce
1st Stage 4 (ITT)
7th Overall Eneco Tour
1st Stages 2 (TTT) & 6 (ITT)
2013
1st Duo Normand (with Luke Durbridge)
1st Stage 4 (TTT) Tour de France
1st Stage 4 (ITT) Tour de San Luis
1st Stage 1 (ITT) Tour of Slovenia
2nd Team time trial, UCI Road World Championships
2014
National Road Championships
1st Time trial
1st Road race
Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 1 (TTT)
Held after Stage 1
2nd Team time trial, UCI Road World Championships
2nd Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes
4th Time trial, Commonwealth Games
2016
1st Duo Normand (with Luke Durbridge)
3rd Team time trial, UCI Road World Championships
3rd Time trial, National Road Championships
2017
1st Time trial, National Road Championships
2018
1st Time trial, National Road Championships
10th Overall Tour de Beauce
2019
2nd Time trial, National Road Championships

Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Grand Tour 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Giro d'Italia — 125 — 148 153 155 — 146 142 147
Tour de France — — — — 169 131 159 — — —
Vuelta a España DNF — — — — — — 158 DNF —
Legend
DSQDisqualified
DNFDid not finish

Notes
  1. Tuft won the Canadian National Time Trial Championships in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2018.

References
  1. Aubrey, Jane (August 24, 2011). "Tuft heads back to the WorldTour with GreenEdge". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  2. "Orica-GreenEDGE (OGE) - AUS". UCI World Tour. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on January 2, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  3. Soladay, Tom. "2019 men's and women's rosters". Rally UHC Cycling. Circuit Sport. Archived from the original on January 22, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  4. Hood, Andrew (October 21, 2019). "Retirements in 2019 — goodbye to the peloton's working class heroes". VeloNews. Pocket Outdoor Media, LLC. Retrieved January 9, 2020. Canadian Svein Tuft, 42, says goodbye to a long and unconventional career that saw him emerge as one of the hardest working and dependable team riders in the peloton.
  5. Macur, Juliet (February 8, 2009). "Canadian Rider Makes Unorthodox Climb to Pinnacle". The New York Times. Retrieved February 8, 2009.
  6. Kingston, Gary (July 13, 2007). "Drawing inspiration". The Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on September 29, 2008. Retrieved February 8, 2009.
  7. Clarke, Les (December 13, 2010). "Pegasus Sports owner pulls plug on team". CyclingNews. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  8. "Tuft takes Eneco time trial and overall lead". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. August 11, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  9. Atkins, Ben (August 12, 2012). "Lars Boom secures overall with late attack on final stage". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  10. "Boom wins 2012 Eneco Tour". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. August 12, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  11. "Kwiatkowski grabs race lead with solid time trial performance". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. January 24, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  12. "Classifications". Tour de France. ASO. July 21, 2013. Archived from the original on February 25, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  13. Timothy John (April 30, 2015). "Belfast crowds 'truly impressive' and team-mates 'like brothers' says maglia rosa Svein Tuft". RoadCyclingUK. MPORA. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  14. "Albasini doubles up at Tour de Romandie". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. April 30, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  15. Emil Axelgaard (April 30, 2015). "Tuft out of the Giro". Cycling Quotes. CyclingQuotes.com 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
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